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If the Canadiens are serious about instilling a winning mentality in their players, then they must turn to a proven champion to lead them as their next head coach. They must turn to their storied past one more time to help lead them to a brighter future. They must turn to one of the fiercest lions in the club’s history, a man that defines winning, nothing else. It is time for Patrick Roy to become an NHL head coach. Roy knows the game tremendously well, and was one of the most cerebral players of his era. He carried the Canadiens to Stanley Cup championships in 1986 and 1993 that they had no business winning, earning the Conn Smythe on both occasions. He continued that championship legacy after the Colorado trade. Following his retirement, Roy took up coaching in the QMJHL where he has led the Quebec Remparts to a Memorial Cup championship (2006) and consistently had the team near the top of the QMJHL standings. His continued commitment to winning has attracted interest from other teams, and Roy himself expressed in 2009 that he was interested in one day becoming an NHL head coach. It would only be fitting that Roy make his debut behind an NHL bench with the same team that made him a legend as a player. Yes, Roy does come with some drawbacks: his fiery temper and alleged ego may overshadow some of his players’ on-ice exploits. But he has demonstrated himself to be savvy with the media, an effective motivator, and an engaging coach that gets the best out of his players. Most interestingly of all for fans who are tired of “the system” of the Martin era, “Since taking the reigns [sic] in Quebec, Roy has preached nothing but offense. The Remparts offense has never ranked below 6th and has been Top 4 five times in the last 6 years. Despite his offensive propensity, Roy is no slouch on the defensive end. He may not focus as much of his attention towards defense as he should but he still has managed to have a Top 6 defense four times in his 6 years.”[1] The Canadiens’ legacy is predicated on fast and skilled players utilizing those talents, and it is time to hire a coach that can bring back Canadiens hockey to Montreal.

He'll be able to bring that same intensity and focus to a Colorado team that has some key tools but needs a structure in place if they are to jump out of the bottom ten in NHL scoring. They need help up front as well as the back end, which is why I'm not sold on Seth Jones as being their sure-fire pick. Either of the Mooseheads boys would enjoy a Roy-led QMJHL-inspired system.

Roy's presence with the Remparts undoubtedly allows them to acquire better players then if he was not there. I'd be interested to see Roy become an NHL coach just to see how his players would respond because coaching well-paid professionals with large egos is certainly different than teaching impressionable teenagers, so I'd be interested in that sideshow at last.

What I'm saying is if Gretzky had become a juniors coach instead of an NHL coach, his teams would have been incredibly stacked just for the kids wanting to play for him and learn from him. Because of that, his teams would likely have a lot of success, and Gretzky being Gretzky would then be perceived as a great coach, but we obviously now how Gretzky worked out as an NHL coach. I think the same thought process could be applied to arguably the best goalie of all-time.

So I'm interested in it for the attraction and undoubtedly a long string of quotes from Roy, but I'm pretty skeptical that he'll have success.

As a die hard Avalanche fan I am very happy to have Roy as the coach, as well as Sakic as head of hockey operations! The thing I am the most happy about at all more than winning the draft lottery or anything is that they finally fired Joe Sacco! Anyways I think its great for Aves fans to bring Roy back and give him a shot, it will definitely draw fans back to the team, however I am not expecting him to turn the team into a contender over night, I am sure he will have his struggles as well and may not even be the long term solution to coaching in Colorado, but just the fact that Sacco is gone has this Aves fan rejoicing! They could have announced they were going to hire a tennis coach who speaks no english instead of Sacco and I would have still been happy : )